Brian Francis Heffron's Blog: Colorado Mandala, page 2
May 31, 2013
All Evidence Indicates Otherwise II By Brian Heffron Copyright 2009
This sadness for no reason is a bad valve tapping in my truck.
I can’t haul until its fixed and I can’t afford the mechanic.
Some folks say I am a subtle beast fluttering gracefully from problem to problem
And solving them all.
But I think I am a broken machine of hair and teeth built in the last ice age.
But still here,
Feeling like an unsung song; never baptized in life or death
And awaiting the end like a long lost friend.
Buttress me as you have in the past against this onslaught.
Tell me sweet things about my broken machine.
Not lies. But truths that I can grab onto like a thrown life preserver.
The wind is picking up and this may be my last chance to get back aboard.
I can see the ghostly white hull disappearing into the twilight.
My craft: The one I fell off, is now sailing on without me.
Desertion caused all this.
An egregious abandonment that ate me up like a shark in one teethy gulp.
Now I am treading water in the North Atlantic
With a black cloud line on the horizon and no lee.
Send help immediately.
I can’t haul until its fixed and I can’t afford the mechanic.
Some folks say I am a subtle beast fluttering gracefully from problem to problem
And solving them all.
But I think I am a broken machine of hair and teeth built in the last ice age.
But still here,
Feeling like an unsung song; never baptized in life or death
And awaiting the end like a long lost friend.
Buttress me as you have in the past against this onslaught.
Tell me sweet things about my broken machine.
Not lies. But truths that I can grab onto like a thrown life preserver.
The wind is picking up and this may be my last chance to get back aboard.
I can see the ghostly white hull disappearing into the twilight.
My craft: The one I fell off, is now sailing on without me.
Desertion caused all this.
An egregious abandonment that ate me up like a shark in one teethy gulp.
Now I am treading water in the North Atlantic
With a black cloud line on the horizon and no lee.
Send help immediately.
Mercy and the Don Juan of LA By Brian Francis Heffron Copyright 10/25/09
She is so strong she has to be careful not to appear hard.
So she softens things with laughter and daubs of make-up.
But it is not necessary. Her heart is a little girl’s;
With freckled red cheeks that ripen
To red at the drop of an embarrassing comment.
Her eyes are watchful. No Gazing; Always intent on a target. Moving.
Her legs and arms are naturally tawny strong; A woman who works at fitness.
Her kiss is tentative at first; A wanting caution feeding the flames like twigs and kindling.
Gradually it grows smoky and thick.
Then a full fall foliage fire erupts in the neighborhood. Someone calls the police. They don’t come.
Her view from the peak sweeps all aside. A majestic mountaintop
Overlooking a basin fed by too many waterfalls to count.
Actual game is visible to the naked eye. Deer, Bear, Grouse.
The gun does not rule here, although she is heavily armed.
And has a license to conceal it.
She is only nameless to you because you already know her.
A nearby glade holds her briefly as she flies through on a white steed.
Sometimes she hikes beneath your window, but you never hear or see her.
Still, she is there. Moving through your life making things go better, easier;
Love is her mantra, her purpose, her meaning,
And the sound that she makes is the sound of life breathing.
So she softens things with laughter and daubs of make-up.
But it is not necessary. Her heart is a little girl’s;
With freckled red cheeks that ripen
To red at the drop of an embarrassing comment.
Her eyes are watchful. No Gazing; Always intent on a target. Moving.
Her legs and arms are naturally tawny strong; A woman who works at fitness.
Her kiss is tentative at first; A wanting caution feeding the flames like twigs and kindling.
Gradually it grows smoky and thick.
Then a full fall foliage fire erupts in the neighborhood. Someone calls the police. They don’t come.
Her view from the peak sweeps all aside. A majestic mountaintop
Overlooking a basin fed by too many waterfalls to count.
Actual game is visible to the naked eye. Deer, Bear, Grouse.
The gun does not rule here, although she is heavily armed.
And has a license to conceal it.
She is only nameless to you because you already know her.
A nearby glade holds her briefly as she flies through on a white steed.
Sometimes she hikes beneath your window, but you never hear or see her.
Still, she is there. Moving through your life making things go better, easier;
Love is her mantra, her purpose, her meaning,
And the sound that she makes is the sound of life breathing.
Bruising Easily By Brian Heffron Copyright 7/20/2012 All Rights Reserved
I’ve bled too many stories.
Spilt out my tales like wine.
Blankets barely warm me.
Spooling out their line.
It seems I’m always bruising.
Always crying time.
Projecting out on others
Some weak imagined crime.
The cool naked feeling
Is that I try so hard.
To always follow kindness
And not be so on-guard.
But still there is a haunting;
A deep remembered crime.
That won’t wash off with water.
And will not pass with time.
Spilt out my tales like wine.
Blankets barely warm me.
Spooling out their line.
It seems I’m always bruising.
Always crying time.
Projecting out on others
Some weak imagined crime.
The cool naked feeling
Is that I try so hard.
To always follow kindness
And not be so on-guard.
But still there is a haunting;
A deep remembered crime.
That won’t wash off with water.
And will not pass with time.
May 30, 2013
Book of theMonth Voting!
My Goodreads friend: In order for Colorado Mandala to win "Book of the Month" I need you to vote here: http://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/60...
If you have any trouble you may have to go here to join the group first:
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/6...
luck from
B.
If you have any trouble you may have to go here to join the group first:
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/6...
luck from
B.
May 28, 2013
FREE E-BOOK WITH PAPERBACK COPY!!!!
I just had a crazy marketing idea: Anyone who buys the COLORADO MANDALA paperback ON SALE TODAY FOR 33% OFF, and then reviews it on Amazon, will receive the Kindle E-Book version absolutely free! How's that for a square deal?
Purchase the book on AMAZON today then after you have reviewed it I will immediately email you out the E-book FOR FREE. Two book versions for the price of one: one real, one electronic! I think this may be a very fresh idea!!! What do you think?
http://www.amazon.com/Colorado-Mandal...
Purchase the book on AMAZON today then after you have reviewed it I will immediately email you out the E-book FOR FREE. Two book versions for the price of one: one real, one electronic! I think this may be a very fresh idea!!! What do you think?
http://www.amazon.com/Colorado-Mandal...
May 27, 2013
LAST DAY OF SALE FOR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!
For our Memorial Day Weekend Special, we gutted Colorado Mandala's Kindle price from $14.95 all the way down to only $2.99!!!
$2.99 is a steal for this 5-STAR REVIEWED Kindle book! Get yours today before the price goes go back up!
OR, get the actual award winning paperback design for under $10 bucks! THAT is 33% OFF AMAZON'S NORMAL LIST PRICE!
Go here to save $: http://www.amazon.com/Colorado-Mandal...
$2.99 is a steal for this 5-STAR REVIEWED Kindle book! Get yours today before the price goes go back up!
OR, get the actual award winning paperback design for under $10 bucks! THAT is 33% OFF AMAZON'S NORMAL LIST PRICE!
Go here to save $: http://www.amazon.com/Colorado-Mandal...
May 26, 2013
Colorado Mandala on SALE!
For our Memorial Day Weekend Special, we have gutted Colorado Mandala's Kindle version price from $14.95 all the way down to only $2.99! That is a steal for this 5-STAR REVIEWED book! Get yours before Monday when the price will go back up! Or get the paperback for under $10 bucks! THAT is 33% OFF AMAZON'S NORMAL PRICE!http://www.amazon.com/Colorado-Mandal...
May 2, 2013
5-Star Midwest Book Review!
"Colorado Mandala comes from poet Brian Heffron, who departs from his established genre with a novel of the seventies recommended for fans of literary fiction. The novel opens with an eloquent preface explaining the author's early attraction (at age twelve) to hitchhiking, an occupation that leads to journeys throughout America:
"This connection to highways, and journeys on them, may be
because I was born the summer Congress passed the Federal Highway Act. I came in with the highways and have actually grown up on them; my New Jersey suburb had a major national highway route running right alongside its border. This meant that total geographic, continental freedom was only one bold, usually cold, thumb ride away."
Each new ride leads to encounters with strangers, new fables and legends, and different perceptions of love and connection which form foundations for the fictional experiences (based on fact) described in Colorado Mandala.
This book is all about shared connections, different visions of love, and a journey through America that vividly connects strangers and places.
Its dialog and descriptions are exquisite, pairing a sense of place with a sense of character and linking the two with a fine mesh of intricate, accurate and sensual description:
"A narrowing canyon: deep, long and slim, with fluted columns of red sandstone and brickish dented walls. Yellow cinquefoils blooming from niches bob in the noonday breeze. Within the canyon is a fast stream so filled with rocks and boulders that the water can hardly find a course. The bank is clay and has retreated with the burden of the spring run-off. Along the southern shore is a roadbed; beside it a flock of brewer's blackbirds feed on ticks and water spiders. Their hollow white eyes snap to at the first rumble of an approaching vehicle."
Heffron's use of the first person is an added bonus, taking full advantage of the protagonist's observations of and experiences with his world and its various interactions, and will delight readers looking for a 'you are there' feel in their reading.
From canyons filled with climbing, nature, and water adventures to bars, drinking, and bad debts, Colorado Mandala moves swiftly and easily between very different atmospheres, carrying readers like a river through the eddies, undercurrents, and compelling mystery of human interactions.
There are cave explorations and cockfighting, there's debt and repayment, wilderness encounters, and the coming together of different peoples and personalities - all set against the backdrop of Colorado's natural wonders.
As the story evolves, readers become immersed in the journey, changing relationships between very different protagonists, and an evolving pressure of past upon present which eventually transforms lives and personalities alike:
"I never believed it possible, but now, in this high wilderness timber clear-cut, there was something I had never seen before in my former partner's eyes: murder…as he approached, I remembered another clearing, a clearing not in my life, but in his. A far away jungle clearing that he fought in a long, long time ago. A clearing he had never really left behind. And I thought, 'Here is my best friend. My finest, and most loyal friend, even if there are occasional fisticuffs, here he is out of his mind with a toxic dose of long-held, misplaced guilt: a killing in the past that so devastated him that he is willing to commit a murder in the present to cover it up. Madness.’"
Gripping writing, solid descriptions of friendships, relationships and changes, and the vivid setting of Colorado's wilderness byways: these facets make Colorado Mandala a tapestry of light, sound and color perfect for readers seeking evocative, compelling stories of journey and inspiration.
--- Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
"This connection to highways, and journeys on them, may be
because I was born the summer Congress passed the Federal Highway Act. I came in with the highways and have actually grown up on them; my New Jersey suburb had a major national highway route running right alongside its border. This meant that total geographic, continental freedom was only one bold, usually cold, thumb ride away."
Each new ride leads to encounters with strangers, new fables and legends, and different perceptions of love and connection which form foundations for the fictional experiences (based on fact) described in Colorado Mandala.
This book is all about shared connections, different visions of love, and a journey through America that vividly connects strangers and places.
Its dialog and descriptions are exquisite, pairing a sense of place with a sense of character and linking the two with a fine mesh of intricate, accurate and sensual description:
"A narrowing canyon: deep, long and slim, with fluted columns of red sandstone and brickish dented walls. Yellow cinquefoils blooming from niches bob in the noonday breeze. Within the canyon is a fast stream so filled with rocks and boulders that the water can hardly find a course. The bank is clay and has retreated with the burden of the spring run-off. Along the southern shore is a roadbed; beside it a flock of brewer's blackbirds feed on ticks and water spiders. Their hollow white eyes snap to at the first rumble of an approaching vehicle."
Heffron's use of the first person is an added bonus, taking full advantage of the protagonist's observations of and experiences with his world and its various interactions, and will delight readers looking for a 'you are there' feel in their reading.
From canyons filled with climbing, nature, and water adventures to bars, drinking, and bad debts, Colorado Mandala moves swiftly and easily between very different atmospheres, carrying readers like a river through the eddies, undercurrents, and compelling mystery of human interactions.
There are cave explorations and cockfighting, there's debt and repayment, wilderness encounters, and the coming together of different peoples and personalities - all set against the backdrop of Colorado's natural wonders.
As the story evolves, readers become immersed in the journey, changing relationships between very different protagonists, and an evolving pressure of past upon present which eventually transforms lives and personalities alike:
"I never believed it possible, but now, in this high wilderness timber clear-cut, there was something I had never seen before in my former partner's eyes: murder…as he approached, I remembered another clearing, a clearing not in my life, but in his. A far away jungle clearing that he fought in a long, long time ago. A clearing he had never really left behind. And I thought, 'Here is my best friend. My finest, and most loyal friend, even if there are occasional fisticuffs, here he is out of his mind with a toxic dose of long-held, misplaced guilt: a killing in the past that so devastated him that he is willing to commit a murder in the present to cover it up. Madness.’"
Gripping writing, solid descriptions of friendships, relationships and changes, and the vivid setting of Colorado's wilderness byways: these facets make Colorado Mandala a tapestry of light, sound and color perfect for readers seeking evocative, compelling stories of journey and inspiration.
--- Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
April 17, 2013
Colorado Mandala
Colorado Mandala - Available 4/28/13
Colorado Mandala comes from poet Brian Heffron, who departs from his established genre with a novel of the seventies recommended for fans of literary fiction.
—Midwest Book Reviews
With refreshing depth, distinct literary merit, and highly original poetic phrasings that spill from the pages like paint, Colorado Mandala is poet Brian Heffron’s debut work of literary fiction that mines the complex landscape of post-Vietnam America to unearth the deep connections that bind individuals together, and also ferociously rip them asunder.
Illustrative, luscious, seductive, and engaging, this rare piece of craftsmanship will stir the senses of any one who thirsts for artistic expression, or who longs for an era in our country now utterly, irretrievably gone. With underlying notes of romance, adventure, historical authenticity, and the poignant passages of coming-of-age, Colorado Mandala both elevates and transcends an era of America to seep into the heart and soul of the reader as flawlessly as a sumptuous poem.
In the heady, hippie backdrop of Pike’s Peak, Colorado, in the tumultuous 1970s, three souls swirl together in an explosive supernova. Michael is the flinty-eyed, volatile former Green Beret, whose tour in Viet Nam has left unbridgeable chasms in his psyche and secrets that can never find light. Sarah is his fair-haired paramour, the ethereal, Earth Mother widow of a fallen soldier and single mother to a ten-year-old son Stuart. Paul is a young wanderer, who soon quickly bears the mantle as both the minister and the scourge of their damaged love. As they are drawn together, and torn apart, each is changed forever. And our hearts race along with them, through the raw and rocky Colorado terrain amidst alcohol-fueled discord and the blood sport of man and beast.
Laying bare the loss and acceptance of a pioneering age, Colorado Mandala shines revelatory light on the crazy, glorious, and romantic notion that each generation conceives anew: that love can be a spiritual gift shared openly among all who feel it, rather than coveted, or hidden, or hoarded. If you wish to go barefoot again and climb an unspoiled Colorado trail, look no further. If you have been longing for something to wake you up in simple, clean language, a shimmering story awaits. Awaken to what you have always known: simple truths show you the way home. With his gripping and unforgettable Colorado Mandala, it is clear that Brian Heffron knows the way. Simply follow his cue.
Colorado Mandala comes from poet Brian Heffron, who departs from his established genre with a novel of the seventies recommended for fans of literary fiction.
—Midwest Book Reviews
With refreshing depth, distinct literary merit, and highly original poetic phrasings that spill from the pages like paint, Colorado Mandala is poet Brian Heffron’s debut work of literary fiction that mines the complex landscape of post-Vietnam America to unearth the deep connections that bind individuals together, and also ferociously rip them asunder.
Illustrative, luscious, seductive, and engaging, this rare piece of craftsmanship will stir the senses of any one who thirsts for artistic expression, or who longs for an era in our country now utterly, irretrievably gone. With underlying notes of romance, adventure, historical authenticity, and the poignant passages of coming-of-age, Colorado Mandala both elevates and transcends an era of America to seep into the heart and soul of the reader as flawlessly as a sumptuous poem.
In the heady, hippie backdrop of Pike’s Peak, Colorado, in the tumultuous 1970s, three souls swirl together in an explosive supernova. Michael is the flinty-eyed, volatile former Green Beret, whose tour in Viet Nam has left unbridgeable chasms in his psyche and secrets that can never find light. Sarah is his fair-haired paramour, the ethereal, Earth Mother widow of a fallen soldier and single mother to a ten-year-old son Stuart. Paul is a young wanderer, who soon quickly bears the mantle as both the minister and the scourge of their damaged love. As they are drawn together, and torn apart, each is changed forever. And our hearts race along with them, through the raw and rocky Colorado terrain amidst alcohol-fueled discord and the blood sport of man and beast.
Laying bare the loss and acceptance of a pioneering age, Colorado Mandala shines revelatory light on the crazy, glorious, and romantic notion that each generation conceives anew: that love can be a spiritual gift shared openly among all who feel it, rather than coveted, or hidden, or hoarded. If you wish to go barefoot again and climb an unspoiled Colorado trail, look no further. If you have been longing for something to wake you up in simple, clean language, a shimmering story awaits. Awaken to what you have always known: simple truths show you the way home. With his gripping and unforgettable Colorado Mandala, it is clear that Brian Heffron knows the way. Simply follow his cue.
Colorado Mandala
Colorado Mandala is a psychological love triangle that takes place during the tumultuous 1970s, with romance, action and drama set within the sublime and picturesque Pike's Peak valley of Colorado.
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